Robin Conn/The Huntsville TimesClint Murphy and Agatha Armstrong, both of Huntsville, talk about their travel plans as they check in at Huntsville International Airport this morning. The couple were boarding planes to visit family for Christmas.

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Huntsville International Airport was the calm before the storm this morning as it, like airports across the country, braced for a deluge of holiday travelers.

Flights were arriving and departing as scheduled in the clear skies over Huntsville, and travelers reported few delays. Small groups waited for luggage at baggage claim, but there was none of the congestion that typically marks holiday travel.

Emmett and Carolyn McDonald of Huntsville said they'd had no problems getting home. The couple arrived tanned and happy from a two-week vacation in Kauai, Hawaii, to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.

"(The airport in) Kauai was busier, but not what I would have expected," Emmett McDonald said.

The couple said one of their flights home was overbooked, and the airline had to pull three people from the flight. The airline was reimbursing people $800 per seat before the wrangling was over.

"I told him to take it," Carolyn McDonald said, laughing.

Her husband shook his head, saying he did not want to get stuck in an airport on standby the day before Christmas Eve, not knowing if he'd make it home for the holiday.

"Especially with eight kids at home waiting for their Christmas presents from Hawaii," Carolyn McDonald said.

Clint Murphy and Agatha Armstrong were on the front end of their travel experience this morning, checking in for their departing flights.

The couple was traveling to Savannah, Ga., and Carthage, Mo., respectively, to visit family for the first time since their recent move to Huntsville.

Neither reported significant delays in their travel plans.

"This year's been good," Armstrong said. "I actually slept in an airport one year when I was in college, but this year I haven't had any problems."

Murphy, who was experiencing his first Christmas travel, said he wasn't worried about what snags might occur.

"This is my first Christmas away from home," Murphy said. "I'm just anxious to see my family."